LARAMIE – Wyoming fans already know Sam Griffin's game travels well.
 
As a high school prospect in Miami, Griffin averaged 23 points during his senior season to lead his team to its third consecutive state title. The 6-foot-3 guard piled up 1,497 points during his time at UT Arlington and Tulsa before arriving at UW as a graduate transfer last summer.
 
Griffin averaged a team-high 16.9 points to go with 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for the Cowboys during the 2023-24 campaign.
 
It all added up to 2,037 career points at the Division I level and now an opportunity for Griffin to play professionally.
 
Eight NBA teams will have kicked the tires on Griffin in person before next week's draft. He has already auditioned for the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder and will do workouts for the Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers this week.
 
One of Griffin's UW teammates, Mason Walters, also recently worked out for the Grizzlies.
 
"It's been a blessing, man," Griffin said of traveling from coast to coast for on-court job interviews with NBA franchises. "It's been fun just competing a lot, and kind of seeing how that lifestyle is, bouncing from place to place and being able to perform as best as you can. It has been good."
 
Griffin's ability to consistently knock down perimeter jumpers – he shot 39.2% behind the arc, including 46.5% on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers for the Pokes – has put him in position to perhaps play at the game's highest level.
 
To put Griffin's scoring prowess in perspective, UW's 2,000-point club consists of Fennis Dembo (2,311), Brandon Ewing (2,168), Hunter Maldonado (2,158), Justin James (2,061) and Flynn Robinson (2,049).
 
Maldonado won a G-League championship with the Oklahoma City Blue last season after a decorated six-year career with the Cowboys, which included leading the program to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
 
The other four players on the list are in the UW Athletics Hall of Fame. Dembo (Detroit Pistons) and Robinson (Lakers) were part of NBA championship teams.
 
"Wyoming has a real college environment," Griffin said when asked how much playing his senior season for Jeff Linder and the Cowboys helped his game. "I never really got the full college experience (before). Seeing how much they value sports; I was able to have access to meals every day. That was my first time ever having an athletic café. It was a different type of deal, and it helped me focus more (being) in that type of atmosphere. The coaching staff was supportive. It was very necessary for me to get to the next level through them.
 
"I appreciate Wyoming as a whole, just the people there and how serious they take (basketball). It's good to be around that."
 
After wrapping up his collegiate career at UW by earning all-Mountain West honorable mention in a loaded conference that sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament, Griffin was one of 64 seniors invited to compete in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in April.
 
"My goal was always to get to the NBA, so it's a blessing that I have the opportunity now," Griffin said. "I don't know what the future holds, but my goal is to always be in there. I'm going to try to pursue it as best as I can and keep staying close to God."
 
Griffin is projected to be a second-round pick or to go undrafted. Whatever happens during the two-day event – the first round will be held on June 26 in Brooklyn, N.Y. starting at 6 p.m. on ABC with the second round slated for June 27 at 2 p.m. on ESPN – he is expected to get an opportunity to play in the NBA Summer League.
 
"I'll probably be watching it in my room by myself, honestly," Griffin said. "I'm kind of nervous, but whatever happens is a blessing. You get eight workouts in the NBA for these types of teams I'm getting workouts for, who would have known that would have happened? Who would have known I'd get to Portsmouth?
 
"Coming from Wyoming, a smaller school in the Mountain West, I think the thing you can take from this for anybody younger than me is that nobody else can tell your story. You have to truly believe that you can do it."
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
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